Interactive design tournament ‘Cut & Paste’ wraps this year in Australia, with the final bout taking place at The Metro Theatre in Sydney this Saturday, 17th November. For those not in the know, Cut & Paste pits designer against designer over three, fifteen minute rounds. Competitors are given themes a week in advance and are allowed to bring ‘approved objects’ with them to the fight (Has anyone ever thought of bringing pepper spray to blind their opponents?). Designers then basically dump their creative load into their laptops until the clock strikes 15 and the judges vote on who’s da best (Helped by screams from a well lubricated audience presumably).
Although I’m slightly weary of turning design into a competition, (I think I’d probably submit a blank screen as some sort of half-assed protest…and lose) the tournament gives punters the unique opportunity to see the workings, rubbings-out and re-workings of first-rate digital practitioners live on screen. To check-out assembled talent for the Sydney, visit their website. And hopefully Saturday night will prove once and for all that when it comes to a design duel, the ‘Wacom’ pen is mightier than the sword (That was awful)…